


As Long As You're Here

by chronicAngel



Series: Leaves in the Summer [40]
Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, POV Third Person, Veterinary Clinic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-17
Updated: 2018-02-17
Packaged: 2019-03-20 15:17:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13720419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chronicAngel/pseuds/chronicAngel
Summary: "I haven't--" He starts and then cuts off what she thinks might have been anI haven't done this in a while, but. "Did you just ask me on a date?" She lets herself nod a little, watching him closely. "...Okay."





	As Long As You're Here

**Author's Note:**

> I said I was going to write something for Kiba to celebrate the Year of the Dog but then I thought, why don't I write my rare pair which has two dog people, one of which is still an Inuzuka?
> 
> If you want to know how bad this one fought me, though, there was a point where I actually researched whether it should be "snuck" or "sneaked" using both the Merriam-Webster and Oxford dictionaries. (They're both fine.)

Hana sorts through various bottles in the back of the clinic, haphazardly thrown around almost an hour ago by her brother when searching for some antibiotic or another. She understands his rush having grown up with him and watching the way he fusses over Akamaru whenever the hound gets sick, but...

She huffs as she picks up another bottle of vitamins from a box that's supposed to be pain relievers.

_But I wish he didn't have to mess up my whole system every time!_

She hears a bell from the front of the building, likely the door, and imagines her ears would perk up if she were a dog. "Hello? Hana?"

She'd recognize him anywhere, somewhat cool and somewhat gentle with a general air of _distracted_. She can practically see him standing at the counter with his nose, still covered in that mask, buried in one of his books she doesn't bother reading the cover of, both because it feels too nosy and because she doesn't actually want to know what it is he's reading. "I guess she must be out," he mumbles right as she gets to the counter and she thinks that someone with worse hearing would have missed it.

"There _are_ other vets in the village, you know," she announces, smirk tugging at her mouth. She knows she's caught him off guard but as usual he doesn't even look up from his little orange book.

"I'm aware of that." He stuffs the book in his pocket, well-loved cover that peeks out at the corner promptly hidden by the long white cloak. "But my ninken are very particular about their treatment. They insist on the best." She wonders if all of his compliments are this two-steps-removed. She doesn't have time to speculate, watching while he sinks his teeth into his thumb-- somehow through the mask, and she's always wanted to ask how he does that-- and then forms the hand signs to summon one of his dogs. A tan dog with dorky sunglasses that remind her of Kiba's teammate is the one that shows up and she remembers that his name is Akino. She looks up at Kakashi, whose shoulders are slouched as though he's not actually worried about a thing.

Raising her eyebrows, she glances back at the dog. "Is Pakkun benched for some reason?"

"He's still recovering from the sprain in his leg." _Of course he is_ , Hana thinks. The pug always seems to have some sort of sprain or twist in his right front leg, probably something to do with his age, and if she has to treat him for it one more time so he can go on an emergency mission with the Hatake, Sixth Hokage's dog or not, she's ordering his retirement. Even ninken can only take so much and she feels the need to remind most trainers that dogs don't live as long as humans and thus can't serve as long as humans do. She doesn't realize that she's said all of this out loud until he leans onto the counter as though trying to remind her that he's there.

She clears her throat and leans down to pick up Akino, doing her best not to knock his shades off his snout. When they reach the examination room she has sectioned off for the reckless Hatake's ninken, she hardly has to look at him before she recognizes the problem. Leaving Kakashi alone with the hound, she returns to the mess of a back room to dig through boxes in the attempt to find where Kiba threw any bottle of chakra replenishing tablets. Though dogs don't have as much chakra as their human companions do, chakra is the basic life force of all living creatures and dogs are no exceptions, with ninken having a unique access to this force similar to the way shinobi practice to access their chakra. Similarly, ninken can draw too much from their chakra just like human shinobi can.

She ends up staying in the back longer than she intended to, once again trying to sort through the bottles of pills while she searches. _I'm gonna_ kill _that runt the next time I see him_... She growls, low in her throat, as she throws another bottle of vitamins over her shoulder in frustration.

"Would you like some help?" She jumps and turns on her heels, nose-to-nose with the Hokage. Annoyed that she's been snuck up on (and trying to hide a blush rivaling her clan's markings in color), she slides past him and grabs a bottle from the shelf opposite her, over his shoulder.

"I'm alright, thanks," she says, inwardly seething at her brother.

By some miracle, this bottle is the one she was looking for, and she makes a sort of sweeping motion with her hands in the attempt to usher him back to the examination room where Akino is waiting patiently for them. "I don't know what mission the two of you went on-- and I don't _want_ to know," she adds hastily, flashing him a look, "but he used up too much chakra. I'll give him two of these and then _you_ won't summon him for a few days." She whips around to jab a finger accusingly at his chest.

She is sure that he's acting dumber than he is when he says, "I didn't even know dogs _had_ chakra," rubbing good-naturedly at the back of his neck. She rolls her eyes and turns back to Akino, two chakra tablets in the palm of her hand. She normally offers treats with the pills but finds herself unable to thanks, once again, to her little sibling.

The three of them sit in relative quiet while she proceeds with a regular check-up ( _"As long as you're here."_ ) on Akino. Kakashi doesn't say anything until the medic-nin in her naturally progresses from checking on the hound to checking on him, which she's sure his former student already does regularly. "This really isn't necessary."

"As long as you're here," she says, repeating her earlier argument and grinning, and it's him rolling his eyes this time. It's the most basic of examinations, vitals and checking on a nasty, still-healing scar from whatever mission he went on two weeks ago that had Ūhei's ear shredded in a way that might rival Kuromaru. She prefers to work with animals, particularly canines, and thus when she finds that there isn't an infection she calls it good enough.

He's watching her as though she's something he can't quite understand. "I never would have expected a relative of Kiba's to be so smart."

"Take me out for takoyaki and I'll tell you all about it," she says without really thinking of it.

After a moment, her words catch up with her and she freezes, pencil pausing on paper halfway through a kanji. She recollects her cool after a moment, brown eyes sliding from her clipboard to his face and trying to imagine his expression under the mask. "I haven't--" He starts and then cuts off what she thinks might have been an _I haven't done this in a while, but_. "Did you just ask me on a date?" She lets herself nod a little, watching him closely. "...Okay."


End file.
